scholarly journals Long-term Effectiveness of mHealth Physical Activity Interventions: Systematic Review and Meta-analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials (Preprint)

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Annette Mönninghoff ◽  
Jan Niklas Kramer ◽  
Alexander Jan Hess ◽  
Kamila Ismailova ◽  
Gisbert W Teepe ◽  
...  

BACKGROUND Mobile health (mHealth) interventions can increase physical activity (PA); however, their long-term impact is not well understood. OBJECTIVE The primary aim of this study is to understand the immediate and long-term effects of mHealth interventions on PA. The secondary aim is to explore potential effect moderators. METHODS We performed this study according to the Cochrane and PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses) guidelines. We searched PubMed, the Cochrane Library, SCOPUS, and PsycINFO in July 2020. Eligible studies included randomized controlled trials of mHealth interventions targeting PA as a primary outcome in adults. Eligible outcome measures were walking, moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA), total physical activity (TPA), and energy expenditure. Where reported, we extracted data for 3 time points (ie, end of intervention, follow-up ≤6 months, and follow-up &gt;6 months). To explore effect moderators, we performed subgroup analyses by population, intervention design, and control group type. Results were summarized using random effects meta-analysis. Risk of bias was assessed using the Cochrane Collaboration tool. RESULTS Of the 2828 identified studies, 117 were included. These studies reported on 21,118 participants with a mean age of 52.03 (SD 14.14) years, of whom 58.99% (n=12,459) were female. mHealth interventions significantly increased PA across all the 4 outcome measures at the end of intervention (walking standardized mean difference [SMD] 0.46, 95% CI 0.36-0.55; <i>P</i>&lt;.001; MVPA SMD 0.28, 95% CI 0.21-0.35; <i>P</i>&lt;.001; TPA SMD 0.34, 95% CI 0.20-0.47; <i>P</i>&lt;.001; energy expenditure SMD 0.44, 95% CI 0.13-0.75; <i>P</i>=.01). Only 33 studies reported short-term follow-up measurements, and 8 studies reported long-term follow-up measurements in addition to end-of-intervention results. In the short term, effects were sustained for walking (SMD 0.26, 95% CI 0.09-0.42; <i>P</i>=.002), MVPA (SMD 0.20, 95% CI 0.05-0.35; <i>P</i>=.008), and TPA (SMD 0.53, 95% CI 0.13-0.93; <i>P</i>=.009). In the long term, effects were also sustained for walking (SMD 0.25, 95% CI 0.10-0.39; <i>P</i>=.001) and MVPA (SMD 0.19, 95% CI 0.11-0.27; <i>P</i>&lt;.001). We found the study population to be an effect moderator, with higher effect scores in sick and at-risk populations. PA was increased both in scalable and nonscalable mHealth intervention designs and regardless of the control group type. The risk of bias was rated high in 80.3% (94/117) of the studies. Heterogeneity was significant, resulting in low to very low quality of evidence. CONCLUSIONS mHealth interventions can foster small to moderate increases in PA. The effects are maintained long term; however, the effect size decreases over time. The results encourage using mHealth interventions in at-risk and sick populations and support the use of scalable mHealth intervention designs to affordably reach large populations. However, given the low evidence quality, further methodologically rigorous studies are warranted to evaluate the long-term effects.

2020 ◽  
Vol 41 (12) ◽  
pp. 1388-1395
Author(s):  
Mireia Puig-Asensio ◽  
Alexandre R. Marra ◽  
Christopher A. Childs ◽  
Mary E. Kukla ◽  
Eli N. Perencevich ◽  
...  

AbstractObjective:To evaluate the effectiveness of chlorhexidine (CHG) dressings to prevent catheter-related bloodstream infections (CRBSIs).Design:Systematic review and meta-analysis.Methods:We searched PubMed, CINAHL, EMBASE, and ClinicalTrials.gov for studies (randomized controlled and quasi-experimental trials) with the following criteria: patients with short- or long-term catheters; CHG dressings were used in the intervention group and nonantimicrobial dressings in the control group; CRBSI was an outcome. Random-effects models were used to obtain pooled risk ratios (pRRs). Heterogeneity was evaluated using the I2 test and the Cochran Q statistic.Results:In total, 20 studies (18 randomized controlled trials; 15,590 catheters) without evidence of publication bias and mainly performed in intensive care units (ICUs) were included. CHG dressings significantly reduced CRBSIs (pRR, 0.71; 95% CI, 0.58–0.87), independent of the CHG dressing type used. Benefits were limited to adults with short-term central venous catheters (CVCs), including onco-hematological patients. For long-term CVCs, CHG dressings decreased exit-site/tunnel infections (pRR, 0.37; 95% CI, 0.22–0.64). Contact dermatitis was associated with CHG dressing use (pRR, 5.16; 95% CI, 2.09–12.70); especially in neonates and pediatric populations in whom severe reactions occurred. Also, 2 studies evaluated and did not find CHG-acquired resistance.Conclusions:CHG dressings prevent CRBSIs in adults with short-term CVCs, including patients with an onco-hematological disease. CHG dressings might reduce exit-site and tunnel infections in long-term CVCs. In neonates and pediatric populations, proof of CHG dressing effectiveness is lacking and there is an increased risk of serious adverse events. Future studies should investigate CHG effectiveness in non-ICU settings and monitor for CHG resistance.


2021 ◽  
Vol 80 (Suppl 1) ◽  
pp. 829.2-830
Author(s):  
A. Najm ◽  
A. Alunno ◽  
C. Weill ◽  
J. Gwinnutt ◽  
F. Berenbaum

Background:Knee osteoarthritis (OA) is a frequent degenerative disease representing an important health and economic burden. Symptomatic medical treatments available include intra-articular (IA) injections of corticosteroids (GC) but their efficacy is debated. In addition, safety signals regarding cartilage damage with IA GC have been highlighted in a few studies.Objectives:To perform a meta-analysis of studies assessing IA GC efficacy and safety in knee OA.Methods:A systematic literature review and a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) assessing the effect of GC IA injections versus other interventions (IA Hyaluronic Acid, IA placebo, IA NSAID, oral NSAID or physiotherapy) in knee OA was performed. The effect of the interventions on pain and function were extracted from the single studies and pooled and are presented as short term (<6weeks), medium term (6-24 weeks) and long term (>24 weeks) follow-up period. Standardized mean differences (SMD) are reported.Results:Of 520 studies screened, 23 were included in the SLR and 14 subsequently included in the MA. While IA GC showed a superior effect compared to control on both pain (SMD -0.61 (95% CI -1,25, 0.03)) and function (SMD -1.02 (95% CI -2.14, 0.10)) in short term follow-up; long term follow-up analysis favored controls (IA HA, IA NSAID, physiotherapy) for both pain (SMD 0.68 (95% CI -0.11, 1.47)) and function (SMD 0.88 (95% CI -0.36, 2.12) outcomes (Figure 1). No difference was found between interventions in the medium term. Safety data were reported in 18/23 studies (n= 1936/2314 patients); and side effects were reported as follows: arthralgia (69 IA GC patients, 146 IA HA patients, and 20 saline patients); site injection pain (7 in the IA GC group, 2 in the IA saline group, 14 in the IA HA group); 16 post injection knee swelling without signs of septic arthritis in the IA GC group and 24 in the IA HA group. In one study assessing cartilage effects of GCs, the rate of cartilage loss was greater in the GC group with a reduction of cartilage thickness at 2 year compared to placebo group. No difference was observed in the progression of cartilage denudation or bone marrow lesion. On the contrary, another study showed no effect of injections on the cartilage structure.Conclusion:We demonstrate in this work that IA GC injections reduce pain and improve function in the early phase (≤6 weeks) of treatment. In the long term (≥24 weeks), other intervention such as IA HA injections or physiotherapy seem to be more efficient, but this effect was largely driven by single studies with large effect sizes and the comparators were heterogeneous.Figure 1.Knee pain outcome at short term (≤6weeks) (A), medium term (>6 & <24 weeks) (B), and long term (≥24 weeks) (C) follow up.Disclosure of Interests:None declared.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shisheng Han ◽  
Tianwen Yao ◽  
Yan Lu ◽  
Min Chen ◽  
Yanqiu Xu ◽  
...  

Background: The efficacy and safety of immunosuppressive monotherapy agents were evaluated for immunoglobulin A nephropathy (IgAN) using a network meta-analysis approach.Methods: Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) published prior to October 1, 2019, using immunosuppressive agents for treating IgAN, were systematically searched in PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Library, and Web of Science databases. Relative risks (RRs) or standard mean differences with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were estimated using the random-effects model. The primary outcomes were clinical remission, end-stage renal disease (ESRD), and serious adverse events (SAEs). The secondary outcomes were urinary protein excretion and serum creatinine.Results: Twenty-five RCTs with 2,005 participants were deemed eligible. Six medications were evaluated: corticosteroids, mycophenolate mofetil (MMF), tacrolimus (TAC), cyclosporine, leflunomide, and hydroxychloroquine (HCQ). Steroids (RR 1.50, 95% CI 1.17–1.93), MMF (RR 2.05, 95% CI 1.15–3.65), TAC (RR 3.67, 95% CI 1.06–12.63), and HCQ (RR 3.25, 95% CI 1.05–10.09) significantly improved clinical remission rates compared to supportive care alone. Only steroids reduced the risk of ESRD (RR 0.35, 95% CI 0.12–0.98); however, there were significantly more SAEs than in the control group (RR 2.90, 95% CI 1.37–6.13). No significantly different effects in serum creatinine levels were found among the therapies. MMF showed no significant improvement in remission when excluding studies with a follow-up of fewer than 2 years in the sensitivity analysis (RR 1.41, 95% CI 0.40–4.92). The effect of TAC in the decrease of proteinuria was reversed after discontinuing medication for 3 months; the long-term effects of HCQ could not be evaluated due to the short follow-up duration.Conclusion: Corticosteroids might induce remission and increase renal survival in IgAN; however, adverse reactions should be taken into consideration. MMF, TAC, and HCQ might improve the remission of proteinuria when treating IgAN, but showed no superiority compared to steroids, and the long-term effects require further study.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shisheng Han ◽  
Tianwen Yao ◽  
Yan Lu ◽  
Min Chen ◽  
Yanqiu Xu ◽  
...  

Abstract BackgroundThe efficacy and safety of immunosuppressive agent monotherapy were evaluated for Immunoglobulin A nephropathy (IgAN) using a network meta-analysis approach based on randomised controlled trials (RCTs).MethodsPubMed, Embase, the Cochrane library, and the Web of Science were systematically searched for RCTs published before October 2019 using immunosuppressive agents for treating IgAN. Quality assessments were performed according to the Cochrane Handbook. Pooled relative risks (RRs) or standard mean differences (SMDs) with corresponding 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated for discrete or continuous variables, respectively. The primary outcomes were clinical remission, end-stage renal disease (ESRD), and serious adverse events (SAEs); the secondary outcomes were urinary protein excretion and serum creatinine. Data were synthesised by the random-effects model.ResultsTwenty-five RCTs with 2005 participants were deemed to be eligible, and six medications were evaluated: corticosteroids, mycophenolate mofetil (MMF), tacrolimus (TAC), cyclosporine (CsA), leflunomide (LEF), and hydroxychloroquine (HCQ). Compared to supportive care alone, steroids (RR 1.50, 95% CI 1.17–1.93), MMF (RR 2.05, 95% CI 1.15–3.65), TAC (RR 3.67, 95% CI 1.06–12.63), and HCQ (RR 3.25, 95% CI 1.05–10.09) each significantly improved clinical remission rates; only steroids reduced the risk of ESRD (RR 0.35, 95% CI 0.12–0.98), but the SAEs were significantly higher than those in the control group (RR 2.90, 95% CI 1.37–6.13). Furthermore, steroids, LEF, and HCQ showed lower proteinuria in the pairwise meta-analysis. There was no evidence of different effects of the therapies on serum creatinine levels. The effect of MMF, whereby it induced remission, was reversed when excluding studies with follow-up of fewer than two years in the sensitivity analysis (RR 1.41, 95% CI 0.40–4.92). The anti-proteinuric effect of TAC was reversed three months after discontinuing medication; the long-term effects of HCQ could not be evaluated due to the short follow-up.ConclusionsCorticosteroids might induce remission and increase renal survival in IgAN; however, the adverse reactions should be considered. TAC, LEF, HCQ, and MMF, might improve remission of proteinuria when treating IgAN, but showed no superiority compared to steroids, and the long-term effects require further study.


2018 ◽  
Vol 21 (11) ◽  
pp. 1473-1479 ◽  
Author(s):  
Seung-Kwon Myung ◽  
Joo-Young Park

Abstract Introduction This study aimed to evaluate the efficacy of pharmacotherapy for smoking cessation among adolescent smokers by using a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials (RCTs). Methods PubMed, EMBASE, and Cochrane Library were searched from the inception to January 20, 2018. We included RCTs of pharmacotherapy for smoking cessation among adolescent smokers aged less than 20 years. Data were pooled using a random-effects meta-analysis. The primary outcome measures were a smoking abstinence rate and its relative risk (RR) at the longest follow-up period in each study validated by biochemical markers. Results Among a total of 1035 articles searched, nine RCTs, which involved 1188 adolescent smokers aged 12–20 years with 627 in the intervention group and 561 in the control group, were included in the final analysis. In the random-effects meta-analysis of all the nine trials, pharmacotherapy showed a increased abstinence rate (RR = 1.62; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.08 to 2.44, I2 = 0.0%), compared with the control group. Subgroup meta-analyses by follow-up period showed an increased abstinence rate at 4 weeks (RR = 1.87; 95% CI = 1.22 to 2.87; n = 4) and a nonsignificantly increased abstinence rate during the longer term follow-up periods at 8, 12, 24, and 52 weeks. Conclusions The current meta-analysis suggests that pharmacotherapy can be considered as an aid for smoking cessation in the short-term period among adolescent smokers. However, further large RCTs are warranted to determine its long-term efficacy and safety. Implications In this meta-analysis of nine RCTs with 1188 adolescent smokers aged 12–20 years, pharmacotherapy showed an increased abstinence rate, compared with the control group. In the subgroup meta-analyses by follow-up period, it showed the increased abstinence rate at 4 weeks and no efficacy on abstinence during the longer term follow-up periods up to 52 weeks. Further large RCTs are warranted to determine the long-term efficacy and safety of pharmacotherapy in adolescent smokers.


2016 ◽  
Vol 54 (2) ◽  
pp. 170-175
Author(s):  
I. Konstantinidis ◽  
E. Tsakiropoulou ◽  
J. Constantinidis

Background: There is evidence of the effectiveness of repeated exposure to odours on short-term olfactory function. The aim of this study was to assess the long-term effects of olfactory training. Methods: We conducted a prospective study of 111 patients with post-infectious olfactory dysfunction. Two groups of patients performed olfactory training for 16 and 56 weeks, respectively, and were compared with a control group. The training was performed twice daily using four odours (phenyl ethyl alcohol, eucalyptol, citronellal, eugenol). Olfactory testing was performed by means of the Sniffin Sticks test as a baseline assessment and then every 8 weeks for 56 weeks. Subjective ratings were performed using a visual analogue scale (0-100). Results: Both training groups presented significantly higher scores than the controls. The long-term group had better results than the short-term group. Short-term training patients sustained their improvement within the follow-up period. Subsets analysis showed that training patients mainly increased identification and discrimination. Subjective ratings were in accordance with the olfactory test results. Conclusion: Long-term olfactory training seems to be associated with better results in patients with post-infectious olfactory loss than a short-term scheme. Short-term training provides sustainable results at 56 weeks follow-up assessment.


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